Well, the new season has really “begun” for many fans now that the Premier League Prima Donnas are back. Gillingham are now unbeaten since March and squeaked an injury time point at Tranmere Rovers to take us to five points. On the Sunday live game, we saw an incredibly poor Manchester United lose to an even worse Arsenal. I think even their fans were embarrassed at just how poor they were and how little they deserved the points. The fact that Raya, their keeper was M.O.M sums up how bad they were. DEFINITE relegation fodder. Manchester City, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest had all impressed earlier in the weekend.

More importantly, Darren Ashley is back with his vlogs and yesterday he had an absolute belter of a game he says. He was at HALESOWEN TOWN v REAL BEDFORD for the NONLEAGUEvlog Check it out – he chose a fantastic game and clearly had a great time. Hopefully he will be as fortunate this week coming.

I noticed he had been out the week before so it would be rude of me not to add Newport Pagnell v Nuneaton Town here Watch both and subscribe for free to his channel.


She Can Kick It

I also got a very interesting newsletter from Clare at She Can Kick It. She says, “It’s about 15 minutes since the Euros finished and today the women’s football season starts again. The FAWNL in England and the SWPL in Scotland begin later today (1pm in Scotland; 2pm in England).

During the last couple of weeks I’ve been on the Brazilian Football Shirt Podcast (streamed live as well as recorded – terrifying) and have been frantically getting the website in order and writing for a new and exciting project I’m part of (stressful). I’m very much looking forward to a holiday next week.

The project is an online women’s sport magazine, not just covering football but as many sports as we can cram into our digital pages (I interviewed a double world kettlebell sport champion this week – I kid you not). The New Women’s Sport Magazine will launch on Wednesday 20th August and if you’d like to keep up-to-date and show your support, you can find us on Instagram: 
https://www.instagram.com/thenewwomenssportmag/

Now

I’ve been writing the FA Women’s National League preview articles for The New Women’s Sport Magazine (TNWSM for short) and have a new appreciation for the league – it’s fascinating. It’s tier 3 of the pyramid and is split into a Northern Division and a Southern Division.

Here’s 3 reasons to keep an eye on it this season:

1. It’s a very competitive league with loads of really interesting battles at the top, middle, and bottom of the table

2. It’s a great place to spot future stars: Hannah Hampton, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway, and Fran Kirby all played in the FAWNL

3. For this season only, there are 3 promotion spots across the Northern and Southern Divisions meaning a play-off final between the second-placed teams for promotion to WSL2.
They’ve just announced a decent investment package and a new strategy to grow and improve this middle level of football. With focus on club environment, individual welfare, fan experience, and commercial sustainability. It’s an exciting time.

Then
I was on The Brazil Shirt Podcast alongside a Brazilian journalist. As we talked about the Euros versus Copa America, it became clear how far behind South America is in its treatment of women’s football (a concern since Brazil host the World Cup in 2027).

I was asked where the differences might be. I instantly said, “Hope Powell” who hasn’t actually been mentioned in the wake of England’s success. So here’s why I think English football owes a great debt to Hope. I’ll caveat this and say with that without support from the FA, Hope wouldn’t have been in the position to change things, but aside from that, she was the driving force of the modern Lionesses.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Hope was hired as England Women’s first full-time coach. She was in charge of the whole international pathway from under-15s to seniors. She improved the entire pathway. The number of Centres of Excellence increased. Hope introduced a scholarship programme meaning 19 young players had fully funded scholarships so they could concentrate on football whilst still receiving an education – players like Ellen White, Jill Scott, and Karen Carney benefitted.In 2009, Hope introduced central contracts: 17 players were now paid a salary to play football. The Lionesses were professional for the first time.And she made all these improvements whilst constantly having to battle for everything, including office space. Without Hope’s determination and persistence, England may not have won the Euros yet. “

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